U.S. bounces back to rout Cameroon at the Under-20 World Cup

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The United States, humbled by a 3-0 loss to Germany in its opening match Friday, rebounded to defeat Cameroon, 4-1, in Suez, Egypt, today in the first round of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The result means that a tie against South Korea in their third game on Friday would send the Americans through to the round of 16.

Coach Thomas Rongen made five changes to the lineup that had lost to Germany, but for almost the entire first half it seemed the players were not clicking. Then, in injury time, the U.S. grabbed its first goal of the 24-nation tournament.

Dilly Duka floated a free kick in from the right and Ike Opara’s header was only partially cleared by Cameroon goalkeeper Francois Beyokol. Tony Taylor retrieved the ball and passed to Bryan Arguez, who slammed it into the roof of the net.

Taylor scored two minutes into the second half, Duka added a goal on a delightful curving shot from the left in the 67th minute, and Brian Ownby scored off a fast break in injury time to settle matters, although the gloriously named Banana Yaya did manage a goal on a penalty kick for Cameroon, which had defeated South Korea, 2-0, in its first match.

‘If you win 4-1 you’re clearly happy,’ Rongen said, ‘but I’m more happy about the fact that our team responded well to a disappointing opening game against Germany. It showed some great character and resilience to manage this game and it was a huge game for us. We felt we needed three points to get ourselves back in the race for the group, and we did that.’

-- Grahame L. Jones